budke



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1'.

'J. P. BUDKE.

APPARATUS FOR FORMING FAGOTS 0R FILES. No; 522,645. D Patented July 101894.

EA Z i I a WITNESSES. i; FEPINVENTOR.

: Nonms PETERS ca. Pnotou'wa. WASMINGTON, b, c.

, (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

J. F.BUDKE.

APPARATUS FOR FORMING PAGOTS 0R PILES. No. 522,645 Patented July10,1894..

INVEN'T OR.

7 HYZZZMQ? WITNESS S.

I UNITED STATE PATENT OFFICEe JOHN F. BUDKE, OFOANNONSBURG,PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR- TO THE OANONSBURG IRON AND STEELCOMPANY, or SAME PLACE.

APPARATUS FOR FORMING FA GOTS OR PILES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 522,645, dated July 10,1894.

Application filed December 17,1892. Serial No. 455,456. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J OHN F. BUDKE, a resident of Oannonsburg, in thecounty of Wash ington and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new anduseful Improvementin Apparatus for Forming Fagots or Piles; and I dohereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescriptionthereof.

My invention relates to an apparatus for forming metal fagots. Thesefagots or piles are composed of bars, slabs, scrap or cropends boundtogether by a hoop-iron and after being raised to a welding heat in thereheating furnace, the component parts of the fagot or pile are weldedtogether by passing the same through suitable rolls to form billets orbars. Where these fagots or piles are made up of bars of a uniformlength and width, the formation of the fagot or pile is a simpleoperation, as by simply piling the bars or slabs uniformly, the one uponthe other, a compact and even-edged fagot or pile is formed.- But wherethe fagot or pile is made up chieflyof scrap or crop-ends muchdifficulty has been, heretofore, experienced in the formation ofsuchafagot or pile, due to the inability to hold the component parts ofthe fagot or pile properly in place while the hoop-iron is securedaround the ends thereof to bind the component parts thereof closelytogether. The result has been that it has been practically impossible toform a close, compact, and even-edged fagot or pile by the methodsheretofore practiced, where the fagot or pile was composed of scrap orcrop-ends. The scrap and crop-ends form a large item of waste in themanufacture of iron and steel of different shapes, and can only bedisposed of at very. low prices, so that the utilization of such scrapand crop-ends in the form of fagots or piles which can be reduced tobillets and sheets, would create a great saving.

The obj eot of my invention, therefore, is to provide means of formingfagots or piles by which a solid, compact, and even-edged fagot or pileis produced, even though thecomponent parts of said fagot or pileconsist largely of scrap or crop-ends.

My invention comprises the improvedv apparatus for forming fagots orpiles, wh ch comprises, generally stated, a box for receiving thecomponent parts of the fagot or pile, a compmssing block arranged abovesaid box and adapted .to compact the fagot or pile therein, and hingedsections on said box for exposing the ends of the fagot'orpile, all ofwhich will be fullyhereinafter set forth and claimed.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and practice my invention, Iwill describe the same more fully, referring to the accompanyingdrawings, in which- Figure 1 is a front View, partly broken away, of myimproved apparatus, showing the fagot or pile compressed. Fig. 2 is aview of the boxwith the fagot or pile removed, as well as the frontplate of said box. Fig. 3 is a view of the apparatus with the frontplate 7 removed and thehinged portions swung back to expose the ends ofthe fagot or pile therein; and Fig. 4: is an end view.

. Like letters indicate like parts in each of the figures. The apparatusconsists of the base plate on which is erected the standard 12 ofsuitable height. Projecting from the standard I) is the bracket or arm0, said bracket or arm having formed therein a screw-threaded opening (1with which the screw bar 6 engages, the upper end of said bar having ahand wheel f, or other device for turning said screw bar e, whereby saidscrew bar e may be raised or lowered in said opening 01. Hinged to thestandard b are the swinging sections g g, said swinging sectionsconsisting of the portions h h and i 11, respectively. The portions h hin conjunction with the standard 6 compose the back, while the portionsc' z" compose the ends of a box A to receive the component I retain saidplate in position at its base, as

shown in Fig. 1, the catches l acting to secure it at its top. While Ihave described the screw for exerting the compressing force in formingthe fagot, it is evident that any suitable compressing apparatus may beemployed for the purpose.

The operation of my improved apparatus is as follows:-It is customary inmaking up a fagot or pile from scrap or crop-ends, to form the top andbottom members of such a fagot or pile by single bars or slabs;accordingly, a bar or slab m of suitable thickness is placed on the baseplate a of the box A, said bar or slab being of a length and breadththat will enable it to fit snugly within said box when the hingedsections 9 g thereof are in their normal position and the front plate isin place. The several parts of the box A are constructed to embrace anarea equal to the length and breadth of the fagot or pile to be formed.The bottom bar or slab m having been placed within the box, the scrapand crop-ends of sheets, bars or plates are placed thereon, care beingtaken to arrange the same in such amanner that they will form as compacta body as possible. The piling of the scrap and crop-ends in a boxinclosed on all sides insures a fagot or pile with even edges andperfectly rectangular in crosssection. When the fagot has been built upin this manner to the proper height, the top bar or slab n, equal inarea to the bottom bar m, is then placed thereon. A compressing block 0is then placed upon the top bar or slab '21, said block occupying aportion of the space intermediate of the ends of the fagot or pile p,but not extending the entire length thereof.

brought to bear upon the interposed scrap and crop-ends, so that all thecomponent parts of the fagot or pile are acted on by an equal pressureat all points at the same time.

It is apparent that instead of the screw bar 0 and the separatecompressing block 0, a

compressing block secured to the end of a piston rod operated by steamor hydraulic power may be employed.

The component parts of the fagot or pile being held in this manneragainst displacement, the front plate in of the box is released from thecatches Z on the ends 7; t, and said plate is removed. The swingingsections 9 g are then swung back to the position shown in Fig. 3,leaving the ends of the fagot or pile 60 p exposed. With the fagot orpile held seon the part of any of the component parts thereof, the ironbands to bind the fagot can be secured about the ends thereof withoutdifiiculty. Accordingly these bands q of suitable width and thicknessare adjusted around the ends of said fagot or pile p and the bandsriveted or otherwise firmly secured to provide a tight connection whichwill withstand the severe strain to which it is exposed when the fagotor pile is introduced into the welding furnace and the expansion of saidfagot or pile takes place. The attempts heretofore made to compact andbind the ends of a fagot or pile made up of scrap and crop-ends havebeen failures owing to the inability to hold the fagot or pile in suchposition that easy access could be obtained to the ends thereof forsecuring the bands around the same to insure the tight binding of thefagot or pile. By my improved form of apparatus the ends of the fagot orpile. can be exposed while at the same time the fagot or pile is tightlycompressed.

lVhen the bands q have been properly adjusted and secured, the screw bare is raised and the compressing block 0 removed, whereupon the fagot orpile is complete and ready for the welding furnace, and the apparatus isthen prepared for another fagot.

I find my improved apparatus extremely advantageous in connection withsheet mills where there is a great deal of scrap metal, as a fagotconstructed as above described upon its removal from the welding furnacecan be passed through the rolls and reduced to a sheet bar withoutfurther re-h'eating, instead of having to first re-melt it in aknobbling furnace and form it into a billet, and then after reheating itreduce it to a sheet bar. In forming such fagots from scrap sheet, thenarrow or short pieces can be laid in place within the box, being builtup to form the solid fagot, and as the sheets are of substantially thesame thickness when built up to a certain height within the box, theywill be compressed to form a fagot of substantially the same thickness,and the confining bands can be formed to shape and riveted together toform the complete bands, as shown in Fig. 3, and when the ends of thefagot are exposed, as above de scribed, the bands may be slipped overthe ends, after which the fagots are released from the pressure, fagotsof regular length, width and thickness being thus produced. It is foundthat such fagots can be heated and rolled to sheet bars at an averageloss of less than ten per cent, because of the even end and side facesand the compactness of the fagots produced.

While I have alluded more particularly to a fagot or pile composed ofscrap or crop-ends, I do not confine my invention to this single use,but broadly to the formation of fagots or piles of whatever nature.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. An apparatus for forming fagots or piles, consisting of a box forreceiving the component parts of a fagot or pile, the bottom piece ofsaid box being of less length than thespace inclosed by the sides andends thereof, mechanism for compressing said fagot or pile therein,and'means for exposing the ends of said fagot or pile, substantially asset forth.

2. An apparatus for forming fagots or piles, consisting of a box forreceiving the component parts of a fagot or pile, the bottom piece ofsaid box being of less length than the space inclosed by the sides andends thereof, mechanism for compressing said fagot or pile therein, andswinging sections on said box for exposing the ends of said fagot orpile, substan- 4. Anapparatus for forming fagots or piles, consisting ofa box for receiving the component parts of a fagot or pile, the bottompiece being of less length than the space inclosed by the sides and endsthereof, mechanism for compressing said fagot or pile therein, swingingsections on said box forming the ends and a portion of the back of saidbox, and a removable front, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination of the base a, the standard b, the bracket 0, thescrew bar e engaging with said bracket, the swinging sections 9 ghinged-to said standard b, the removable front plate It, and thecompressing block 0, substan- 3 5 tially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I, the said JOHN F. BUDKE, have hereunto set myhand.

JOHN F. BUDKE.

Witnesses:

Row. D. TOTTEN, J. N. Oooxn.

